Outdoor lessons in poor weather can be fun and exciting, Jo Ling tells us how. Photograph: Rex Features

In the weeks leading up to Christmas I was busy travelling to different schools to assess the latest cohort of potential forest school leaders. As part of their final piece of work, in order to gain the forest school level 3 leadership qualification, students have to plan and lead six forest school sessions, one of which is observed and assessed by someone like me – a forest school trainer. It is one of the most enjoyable parts of the training as I get to visit a range of inspired and dedicated professionals – all enthusiastic about getting children and young people outside and connecting them to the natural world.

However, at this time of year some of my students come up against a barrier which can prevent them from completing their work. This barrier goes by many names – perhaps you recognise some of them? Some people simply call this barrier – "it's too cold, the children won't like it." Some call it "the parents will complain". I have also heard reference to "health and safety", "litigious times", "the kids don't have the right kit" and "it's not safe".

In a nutshell, the barrier is the attitude some people have to the weather. Especially cold weather.

I thought the era of timidity when facing the threat of litigation was over. I thought schools had stopped being cautious over straightforward childhood pleasures such as throwing snow, kicking up leaves and splashing in puddles. Not so, in my experience.

I also thought the messages about the benefits of learning and being outside had got through. Again, not always so. Sadly, it seems there is still resistance to acknowledging the deep value of outside learning and playing for children. During the recent snowy snap, I had three students ring me to cancel their assessment sessions because they were not allowed to takethe children outside in the cold.

Teachers, who were desperate to get the children out of the classroom, were left frustrated and demotivated.

So, what can be done to help these professionals persuade reluctant managers that children should go outside to learn - whatever the weather?

Firstly, we could arm ourselves with the legal documentation and guidance that can support our views. In July 2012, the Health and Safety Executive produced guidance on risk and risk assessment. Its message is clear - outdoor play is good for children and while the element of risk should be considered it should not be used as an excuse to curtail outdoor activities.

We also need to be realistic about how lessons and will alter according to weather conditions. We may decide to have a shorter session during the cold season or have lots of active games which keep the children moving (and can be part of the PE curriculum).

Children need not be subjected to deeply uncomfortable conditions. However, being out in the snow, for most children is a wonderful and uplifting experience. We can justify taking them out as part of their learning in a huge variety of ways. In literacy we might read Let's Go Home Little Bear by Martin Waddell and then go out to hear our own plop, plop, plops and drip, drip, drips as the snow melts. Or, with older children, they could explore the winter scenes from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, then go and stand under a snowy tree and imagine Mr Tumnus approaching them from the undergrowth.

Or the session could revolve around an impromptu science lesson. Mixing snow with salt and food dye, making ice mobiles - where will you leave your mobile to freeze over-night? Fill balloons with water and leave them outside to freeze; should we bury them in the snow or leave them on the tarmac, which will freeze quickest?

Can the children find tracks in the snow and identify the animals that made them? Can they design and make bird feeders? Can they make a pile of snowballs a metre tall? And so on.

In 2013, I would love to see all head and deputy headteachers take one day out of their offices and spend that time in a green space, remembering what it is to be a child and how important the natural world is to wholesome child development and deep level learning. Maybe, if senior managers could be persuaded to go outside to play for a short period of time, they would come to view snow, rain, frost, fog and so on, not as a threat but as opportunities for outstanding lessons and learning.

Having spent 20 years in the primary and early years sector, Jo Ling is currently working as a freelance outdoor educator and forest school trainer. She left mainstream education in December 2010, her last post as an assistant headteacher. She now works with schools, preschools, family groups and charities in promoting outdoor learning.